Feijóo rules out either cordon with Vox

Alberto Núñez Feijóo spoke informally with journalists at the reception for Spain's National Day at the Palacio Real in Madrid on Monday, 12 October, ahead of the general election on 29 November. He said he sees his party 'more fired up' than in 2023 and described the PP as the real 'vote for change'. He said the party will not write off a single vote 'until the polling stations close', and that none of the polls it uses gives a worse result than 2023. He expects the PP to pass 8 million votes.

Asked about governing with Vox, Feijóo answered in a phrase that set the tone of the day.

“No sanitary cordon, but no umbilical cord either.”

He added that Vox, which polls show rising, is 'the third party in Spain' and deserves 'institutional respect', while the PP remains 'the party of the State'. He said he did not want to prejudge the attitude of the rival party on the right.

Abascal absent from the National Day

Santiago Abascal did not attend the military parade or the institutional meeting at the Palacio Real. According to ABC, he was in Ceuta on 12 October with Jordan Bardella, the candidate of Marine Le Pen's party, Agrupación Nacional, for prime minister of France. La Vanguardia reported that Abascal then appeared with Bardella at an event in Madrid, where he spoke of an 'alliance in essentials' with a France led by Le Pen from 2027. Feijóo said he chose to be at the palace beside the King, respecting the head of state and the armed forces. ABC reported that the two party leaders held a long conversation shortly before the campaign began, and Abascal told ABC that the will to reach understanding with the PP is even greater than before.

Polls point to a 201-seat bloc

ABC reported that polls put the PP and Vox close to 200 seats together. An IMOP poll for El Confidencial gives Vox 70 seats, up from 33 today, while the PP would take 130, seven fewer than in 2023. That poll puts the PP-Vox bloc at 201 seats. A GESOP pre-election survey for Prensa Ibérica puts the PP first but falling, at 28.7% of the vote and 121 to 125 seats, against 137 seats today. The same survey has Vox at its best level of the legislature and could lift the conservative bloc to 197 seats. Feijóo told reporters the PP will not fall below its 2023 result, and he said the PP is not rising further because Vox is growing.

Vox (current)33

Vox (IMOP poll)70

PP (IMOP poll)130

PP-Vox bloc (IMOP poll)201

Vox (current)

33 seats

Vox (IMOP poll)

70 seats

PP (IMOP poll)

130 seats

PP-Vox bloc (IMOP poll)

201 seats

Data from the article text

Supreme Court ruling and voting rights

At the same reception, a Supreme Court decision was about to be confirmed that keeps the suspension of voting rights for people who obtained Spanish nationality under the 'grandchildren law'. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who dissolved the Cortes on 5 October, used the occasion to defend those voters.

“We are talking about the voting right of 400,000 people. Feijóo and Abascal are asking that they not be allowed to vote. A democracy cannot have first-class and second-class citizens.”

Sánchez added that this right cannot be taken away, because these people have voted without any doubt since 2023.

Strike and housing

Feijóo questioned the general strike called for 11 November, saying he thinks the unions have made a mistake. He said he has a fluid relationship with the unions but has not discussed the strike call with them. He called housing the biggest failure of the current government, arguing that it has built the least and is responsible for rising purchase and rental prices. The election is due on 29 November, and the strike follows on 11 November.